The Importance of President Obama’s Eulogy Delivery on God’s Grace

There’s a lot going on in our world, much of which I do not agree with. But one thing that I try to do often is pray for the leaders of our nation. The major decision makers have it tough. There is so much that rests on their shoulders and I cannot say that I would handle it with as much ease and class as I believe (my opinion) President Barack Obama has.

He has managed to first of all, deal with the major task of being the first African American President of the United States. It’s hard enough being black in America, more less trying to lead America. Secondly, there was a messy residue left by his predecessor. And thirdly as always in the history of this world, there has been a lot to deal with politically, socially, etc. over the past seven years.

Last Friday, President Obama’s eulogy during the funeral for Senator Reverend Clementa Pinckney, one of the nine Charleston, SC Emanuel AME Church victims, was another example of his commitment to faith and his commitment to peace.

According to the Christian tradition, grace is not earned. Grace is not merited. It’s not something we deserve. Rather grace is the free and benevolent favor of God as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings… We may not have earned it, this grace with our rancor, complacency and shortsightedness and fear of each other but we got it all the same. He gave it to us any way.

But it is up to us now to make the most of it to receive it with gratitude…For too long we were blind to the pain that the confederate flag stirred into many of our citizens. It’s true a flag did not cause these murders… but as we all have to acknowledge the flag has always represented more than just ancestral pride…Removing the flag from this state’s capital would not be an act of political correctness. It would not be an insult to the valor of confederate soldiers. It would simply be an acknowledgement that the cause for which they fought, the cause of slavery was wrong.

It would be a betrayal of everything Reverend Pinckney stood for, I believe, if we allowed ourselves to slip into a comfortable silence again. Once the eulogies have been delivered. Once the tv cameras move on, to go back to business as usual.

Not only am I blessed to sincerely believe that the leader of my country is a God-fearing man but that he can understand and relate to the oppression that my race has been subjected to. God forewarned us of the rising acceptance of sin, but I believe He did so to create a fire within us to stand for something; to have a purpose and strive for greatness in ourselves and in others.

I may not agree with everything going on in our world today, but I do not stand for division. We are all God’s children whether we acknowledge it or not and we all have access to a grace that we do not earn; a grace that we do not deserve. We all are failures but are made successes through Christ.

Please be encouraged to be a better you. Think higher thoughts of yourself and others. See the best in people and inspire others to do the same. Love every one and stop making a fuss over things that are minuscule compared to the great disasters in this world. See your own sin and extend God’s grace to others.